Copy-press.



PATENTED SEPT. 13, 1904.

M. J. FOYER.

COPY PRESS.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 29, 1902. nmvnwnp JUNE 20, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 NO MODEL.

.v INV- WITNESSES."

Qaia. fi 4 PATENTED SEPT. 13, 1904.

1- FOYER.

COPY PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 29, 1902. nnxnwnn un 20. 1904.

2 sums-sum 0 MODEL.

4 .7 WITNESSES.-

'ZWSWA.

Patented September 13, 190i.

'UNTTED STATES PATENT Orricn.

MELVIN J. EOYER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN BANK SERVICE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

COPY-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,7 95, dated September 13, 1904.

Application filed eptember 29, 1902. Renewed June 20, 1904. Serial No. 213,321. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, MELVIN J. EOYER, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Copy-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to letter-copying machines of that general class wherein the letters are copied upon tissue-paper supplied to the machine in the form of a roll mounted therein and passed through the machine by the operation thereof, the paper being first carried through a suitable path in which it is properly moistened, then squeezed by wring-,

ers to exude surplus moisture, and afterward passed, together with the letter to be copied, between pressure rolls and delivered from the latter beneath a knife or cutter, by the operation of which the strip of printed paper is cut into sheets corresponding with the several sheets that have been copied thereon.

Heretofore in the construction of such machines some difficulty has been experienced in eflecting the proper priming of the machinethat is, the initial introduction of the end of the strip of tissue-paper between the several wringing and pressure rolls; and my invention has for its principal object to provide a machine of this type which is capable of being more easily and quickly primed than similar machines now in use.

Another object of my invention is to provide a machine for the purpose stated characterized by fewness and simplicity of its operating elements and by a consequent increased economy in the cost of manufacture.

To this and other ends my invention consists in an improved letter-copying machine having the novel peculiarities of construction and relative arrangement of its operating parts, substantially as hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows in side elevation a machine embodying the principle of my invention in the best form thereof which I have as yet devised. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section through the machine, the rolls being shown separated; and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail showing a portion of the driving mechanism in vertical section.

Referring to the drawings, 6 and 7 designate a pair of similarly-formed vertical side-frame members, between which are journaled the several operating-rolls of the machine. In the left-hand or forward end of the machine is loosely mounted a roll or drum 8, carrying a roll 9 of thin paper, on which the letters are to be copied. This roll 8 is journaled in open bearings, as shown, so as to be capable of ready removal and replacement, and is also so mounted as to be free from tension and to offer but a minimum frictional resistance to the pull thereon produced by the feed of the paper onward through the wringing and pressure rolls hereinafter described.

At the right-hand end of the machine, as shown, and in and between the upper ends of elevated portions of the side frames is journaled a transverse shaft 10. East on either end of this shaft just inside the side-frame supports are eccentrics 11 and 12, which are connected by a bail-shaped handle 13, so as to be operated in unison. Mounted on said eccentrics 11 and 12 are a pair of depending swinging bars 14: and 15, constituting a rollcarrying frame, which bars are longitudinally slotted, as at 14 and 15, intermediate their ends, while their lower ends are also provided with open-end slots 14 and 15 it being observed that the two legs formed by the slotting of the lower ends of the bars are of unequal length, for a purpose that will hereinafter appear. In and between the side bars 14 and 15, near the upper end of the latter,

,is journaled the upper pressure or copying roll 16. Below the latter and having its spindles mounted in the slots 14: and 15 is an intermediate rubber-surfaced roll 17 which serves as a pressure or copying roll in association with the upper roll 16, but which, in association with a lowermost dampening-roll 18 performs also the function of a wringingroll. The end spindles of the dampening-roll 18 are adapted to rest in a pair of open bearings 6 and 7, formed in the upper margins of the side frames 6 and 7, respectively, be-

low and in line with the spindles of the copy-- by the forked lower ends of the side bars 14 and 15, as shown in Fig. 1. Immediately below the dampening-roll 18 is mounted a tank or trough 19, located at such a height that when filled, or nearly so, the under portion of the surface of the roll will dip therein.

20 indicates a transverse rod mounted in and between the side frames at a point substantially equidistant between the paper roll or drum 8 and the dampening-roll 18, and serving to guide and support the strip of paper during its travel from the former to the latter.

At the right-hand end of the machineframe, as shown, is mounted a receiving-drum 21, so positioned as to receive and coil up the printed strip as it emerges from the copyingrolls, whence the strip may be subsequently unwound and passed beneath a suitable cutter, (not shown,) whereby the strip maybe cut into sheets corresponding with the individual sheets that have been reproduced in succession thereon.

22 and 23 designate transverse tie-rods constituting elements of the machine-frame and serving to rigidly space apart and unite the fore and rear legs of the side frames 6 and 7.

Said side frames at their upper ends may be united by a horizontal plate 24, constituting a table or support for the letters to be copied as they are fed to the copying-rolls. 25 is another tie-rod, so positioned as to serve also the function of a stop or rest for the handle 13 when in lowered position.

In the broader aspects of my invention any convenient driving mechanism may be employed to simultaneously rotate the three rolls 16, 17, and 18, carried by and between the hanging side bars 14 and 15; but I prefer to positively drive one of these rolls and rotate the other two from frictional contact therewith. In the embodiment of my invention herewith presented the upper pressureroll 16 is the positively-driven roll, and the underlying rolls are driven by peripheral frictional contact therefrom in the copying operation. A simple and convenient driving gear for this purpose consists of the following: On the outer face of one of the roll-carrying bars (here shown as bar 14) is cast an integral boss 26, Fig. 4, this boss being provided with a countersunk bore 27, adapted to receive a headed pin or bolt 28, which is entered therein from the opposite side of the bar 14 through the slot 14. On the projecting end of the pin 27, which constitutes a shaft, is rigidly mounted a pinion 29, and fast on said shaft, against the outer face of the pinion, is clamped by a nut 30 a crank 31. The pinion 29 lies below and in mesh with a spur-gear 32, fast on the projecting spindle of the upper pressure -roll. The receiving-drum 21 may conveniently be driven from the upper copying-roll 16 by pulleys 33 and 34 on the overhanging spindles of said roll and drum, respectively, connected bya belt 35.

The operation of the machine has already to a considerable extent been indicated, but may be briefly described as follows: Assuming the parts to be in the position shown in Fig. 1, but with the paper strip not yet engaged with the several rolls, the handle 13 is thrown up and over to the position shown in Fig, 3, which, through the eccentrics 11 and 12, elevates the side bars 14 and 15 to such a' height that the shorter leg of the forked lower end of each bar is above the top of the spindle of the dampening-roll 18, whereupon the side bars swing by gravity to the vertical po sition shown, wherein the lower ends of said bars are entirely in rear of the roll 18. By this same operation the spindles of the intermediate roll 17 drop to the bottoms of the slots 14 and 15, thereby separating said roll from the upper roll 16, while at the same time the roll 17 is raised and then swung out of contact with the roll 18. The latter roll may then be readily removed and the tank 19 filled. This done, the end of the paper strip is then introduced between the rolls 16 and 17 The roll 18 is then reseated in its bearings over the strip, as shown in Fig. 3, forcing the latter into the water-tank. The rollcarrying frame is then swung back by the hand of the operator until the longer legs of the forked lower ends of the side bars contact the spindles of the roll 18. Thereupon the handle 13 is thrown back and down, thus bringing the parts to the position shown in Fig. 1. The machine is then primed and ready for service. Upon turning the crank 31 the three rolls 16, 17, and 18 are caused to time simultaneously rotate, and at the same the letter to be copied is advanced from the table 24 into the nip of the pressure and copying rolls 16 and 17 with the printed or written side of the sheet in contact with the upper surface of the strip 9, which strip has been previously suitably dampened by its travel through the water-tank, the surplus moisture having been expressed therefrom between the wringing rolls 17 and 18. The printed end of the strip as it emerges from the copying-rolls may be passed once around the receiving-drum 21, after which the strip is continuously and automatically coiled up onthe latter as fast as it is delivered from the copying-rolls. This has the advantage of dispensing with the necessity of a special mounting for the machine or an auxiliary frame containing a receiving reel or drum, and makes the machine self-contained and complete.

From the foregoing it will be seen that by my invention I have provided an eflicient copying-machine characterized by simplicity and fewness of operating parts and ease in priming and operating the machine. I have found in practicethat as high as ten or twelve legible copies of a single written or type-written sheet may be taken thereby, which copies may be made as fast as it is possible to pass the original between the copyingrolls. Where a number of letters are to be copied singly and in succession, they may be piled up in the desired order on the table 24 and passed in close succession through the copying-rolls at the highest speed with which the operator is capable of manipulating the machine, the copies thereof being neatly preserved on the receiving-drum until subsequently withdrawn, separated, and permanently filed away for reference or otherwise disposed of.

I am aware that machines of this general type wherein the impression is made by passing the sheet to be copied and the receivingstrip between pressure-rolls are old in quite a variety of forms, but I believe I am the first to provide means for effecting the separation of the copying and dampening rolls for the purpose of priming the machine, as well as the first to provide a machine wherein these rolls are carried in a swinging frame so disposed relatively to the main frame of the machine that the dampening-roll may be readily.

removed and inserted by merely swinging the copying-rolls out of line therewith. I believe I am also the first to automatically coil up the printed strip on a receiving drum or reel actuated simultaneously with the copying-rolls from a moving part of the machine. I do not, therefore, limit my invention to the particular mechanical embodiment thereof herein shown and described except to the extent indicated in specific claims hereunto appended.

I claim 1. In acopy-press of the type described, the combination with a main supporting-frame and a dampening-roll mounted therein, of a roll-carrying frame movably mounted on said main supporting-frame above said dampening-roll, an upper copying-roll having fixed journal-bearings in said roll-carrying frame, and a lower copying-roll having lost-motion journal-bearings in said roll-carrying frame and located between said upper copying-roll and said dampening-roll, substantially as described.

2. In a copy-press of the type described, the combination with a main supporting-frame, of a pair of movable roll-carryingbars mounted therein, a pair of copying-rolls and a dampening-roll mounted to turn in and between said bars normally in rolling contact but with capacity for separation, and means for elevating said bars whereby to separate said rolls out of contact with each other, substantially as described.

3. In a copy-press of the type described, th e combination with a main supporting-frame, of a pair of longitudinally-movable bars mounted therein, said bars having slotted lower ends and elongated bearings intermediate their ends, a pair of copying-rolls carried by said bars the lowermost of which is mounted in said elongated bearings, a dampening-roll rotatably supported in the main frame below said copying-rolls and confined by the slotted lower ends of said bars, said rolls all being normally in rolling contact, and means for elevating said bars whereby to separate said rolls, substantially as described;

4. In a copy-press of the type described, the combination with a main supporting-frame, of a pair of depending bars pivotally mounted at their upper ends therein, said bars being slotted at their lower ends. a pair of copyingrolls journaled in and between said bars, and a removable dampening-roll rotatably supported in open bearings in the main frame below said copying-rolls, and, when in operative position, confined by the siotted ends of said bars, substantially as described.

5. In a copy-press of the type described, the combination with a main supporting-frame, of a pair of swinging bars pivotally mounted at their upper ends therein, said bars being slotted at their lower ends, a pair of copyingrolls journaled in and between said bars, a removable dampening-roll rotatably supported in open bearings in the main frame below and in line with said copying-rolls, and, when in operative position, confined by the slotted free ends of said bars, and means for effecting an elevation of said bars thereby separating the lowermost copying-roll from the dampening-roll, substantially as described.

6. In a copy-press of the type described, the combination with a main supporting-frame, of a pair of movable roll-carrying bars mounted therein, a pair of copying-rolls mounted to turn in and between said bars normally in rolling contact but with capacity for separation, a dampening-roll mounted in the main frame below said copyingrolls, means for elevating said bars whereby to separate said copying-rolls out of contact with each other and the dampening-roll, and driving mechanism mounted on one of said bars and imparting a positive rotation to the topmost roll, substantially as described.

7 In a copy-press of the type described, the combination with the main frame, of a dampening-roll rotatably supported in open bearings therein, a water-tank therebelow, a pair of eccentrics journaled in the upper part of the main frame, an operating-handle therefor, a pair of bars suspended on said eccentrics, said bars being slotted at their lower ends and straddling the spindles of said dampeningroll and being further provided with elongated bearings intermediate their ends, a pair of copying-rolls mounted in said bars, the lower- I & 769,795

most of Which is journaled in said elongated printed strip mounted in said main frame,

bearings, and means for imparting rotation and driving connections between said drum I0 to one of said rolls, substantially as described. or reel and one of the copying-rolls, substan- 8. In a copy-press of the type described, the i tially as described.

combination With the main frame, the swing- MELVIN J. FOYER.v

ing roll-carrying frame mounted thereon, and \Vitnesses: I the copying-rolls mounted in said roll-carry- SAMUEL N. POND, mg frame, of a receiving drum or reel for the ADA H. POND. 

